Local News

Former St. Catharine College soccer player Jacob Heil, along with his wife (Laura), dad (Chuc) and brother (Jody), travelled to Haiti over the Christmas holiday on a service mission to the Good Shepherd Orphanage in the town of Carrefour.

They spent time with children of all ages who were orphaned by the 2010 earthquake. In addition to the gift of time, the Heil family took along several gifts to support the orphanage, including several St. Catharine logo soccer balls and a pump kit to keep them inflated.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education was recently awarded a three-year grant totaling $720,000 from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to improve college readiness.

A featured activity within this award is a $120,000 grant to St. Catharine College to continue their collaboration with the Washington County Commander College program. Kentucky was one of 10 states selected to participate in the overall grant. St. Catharine College is one of three Kentucky higher education institutions who will benefit from the overall award.

ONGOING EVENTSMasonic Lodge
The Masonic Lodge will be having Rook on the second Monday each month during winter from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The lodge is located beside the Opera House in Springfield. Parking and entrance in the back - large blue door. No charge, bring your own cards, refreshments, etc.

The editorial staff of The Springfield Sun was named one of the top two mid-sized weekly newspapers in the state on Friday by the Kentucky Press Association (KPA).

The Sun nabbed second place overall in its class, accumulating 16 awards among staff members.
The LaRue County Herald News was named the best overall mid-sized weekly newspaper.
Sun editor Jesse Osbourne won 11 awards outright, and shared one with former Sun publisher Jeff Moreland.

School board members were honored at the regular scheduled meeting on Jan. 17.

January is board member appreciation month.
“I truly appreciate your support and commitment that all five of you show for educating WC students,” Robin Cochran, superintendent of Washington County Schools, said.
In other school board news, the Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (CDIP) was approved by the board.
A work session was held on Jan. 16 to discuss the CDIP.
The plan passed unanimously.

A section of Main Street in Springfield was recently added to the National Register as a historic district.

Properties from roughly Commercial Avenue to College Street, and from McCord and High Streets to East Depot Street are included in the historic register.
Springfield was one of two locations in Kentucky to be listed on the register last month, along with several properties on Main Street in Harrodsburg.

Burglars made out with several thousand dollars worth of stolen items sometime on Jan. 13 at a home on Bardstown Road.

According to a police report, a residence at 7655 Bardstown Road was broken into sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 13.
The victim stated to police that he was not home at the time of the burglary, but his vehicles were still in the driveway. Dogs were also present at the residence, but were housed in a kennel.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear issued a stark address to the state on Jan. 17, indicating cuts will come to agencies across the board.

While the budget is just a proposal now, Washington County shouldn’t expect to come away unscathed after the budget has passed.
One area that will continue suffering is education.
Beshear noted in his address that SEEK funding (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky), measured in per-student funding, has slipped back to the same level as 2008.

Commuters will notice a change in the roundabout on US-150 in front of the St. Catharine campus in the near future, after a number of accidents in recent months.

A one-vehicle injury crash on Jan. 11 was the ninth accident at the roundabout since it opened after construction last summer.
Five of those accidents, occurring between Aug. 18 and Oct. 5 of last year, show that drivers’ unawareness of the new addition likely contributed to the high number of accidents.